Brothers
by TaliaThompson
Summary: Bravo team is sent on a dangerous mission in Afghanistan. Clay and Ray are sent in early to provide over watch. When shit hits the fan will Clay and Ray do as they were told to stay put or defy orders to save their brothers.
1. Chapter 1

It was supposed to be a nice relaxing day for everyone. Bravo team had just returned from their three month deployment earlier in the week and were all enjoying the week off before they were to report back for duty. Unfortunately that week off got cut short by a few days when they all got the call to report back to base for an important mission.

"What do we got?" Jason asked as they all sat around the table waiting to see what was so important that cut their time off short.

Mandy pulled up a map of Afghanistan on the screen and pointed to a small village near the mountains. "The highly Taliban group has been trying to take over this village that has been helping Americans by supplying key information that has helped take out key members of the deadly group. Many of the villagers have started disappearing and we have been getting less and less Intel because of it. Without this Intel, it would be almost impossible to take this group down."

"There's Taliban groups taking over villages everywhere over there. What makes this group so special?" Sonny asked.

"This specific group has been targeting the American military and anyone that's associated with it. There was a highly trained group of about 50 Americans staying in the village, training anyone willing to learn how to defend their village from the Taliban and we got a status update from one of the members that about 20 have gone missing along with some of the villagers. They are believed to be either captured or killed." Mandy informed them.

The group remained quiet as they took in the information they just received and then continued to form their plan of attack. Two members of Bravo were to meet up with 4 of the Americans accompanied by a group the villager's right after dusk in a nearby valley. They would then trek by foot back to the village to provide over watch for the rest of the team which was to be dropped off in the same valley right before dawn. They were going to meet up with some of the Afghan forces that were training alongside the villagers and 15 of the Americans.

"Why don't we all just go in together?" Jason asked, not seeing the point of separating the team yet.

"A portion of Taliban has been reported to guard the village over night from the wooded mountains to make sure no one comes in or out. Fortunately for us a few of the villagers have noticed a week spot on the west side of the village. The smaller the group the easier it will be to go undetected. Once the sun comes up they all retreat to the north side where it is believed they are planning an attack to fully overtake the village and everyone in it. During that time a larger group will be able to meet up with the rest of you while the two already in the village will be able to provide over watch for both you and the Taliban." Blackburn informed them.

It was decided that Clay and Ray would be the two to go in for to provide over watch. Ray could easily blend in with the rest of the group and Clay was fluent in their language. They were both dropped off at 2200 hours and successfully met up with the villagers. They then quietly and safely made it into the village where they set up shop on the roof of one of the villagers' homes that would provide them both protection and the ability to keep an eye in all directions as it was one of the only two story homes in the village.

Ray radioed in to let Blackburn know that they were set up, had eyes on the location where the Taliban is said to meet as well as where the rest of the team would be entering. Both were roughly a mile away from the village.

At 0530 hours the rest of Bravo team met up with their group of Afghan forces and their 15 American trainers and began making their way towards the village.

Clay had eyes on the team as well as the large group they were traveling with while Ray was keeping an eye on the Taliban, who had all returned to their meet up location. "Something seems off about this" Ray whispered to Clay. "I only count about 30 Taliban fighters. I thought there was supposed to be close to 100."

Before Clay had a chance to respond the entire village went dark. There was not a light on to be found anywhere. "That can't be good." Clay said as he and Ray both started looking around trying to figure out the cause of the loss of power.

"You see movement anywhere?" Ray asked Clay as they still scanned the area.

"Negative." Clay responded.

"Shit!" Ray hissed out. "The Taliban. They're not there anymore."

Clay quickly took his eyes off their team to look at the area Ray was keeping watch on.

"Bravo two. TOC. We have visual of a large group attempting to surround Bravo and their group…" Blackburn radioed in but before he could finish his sentence a large amount of gunfire erupted from the woods.

Clay still had eyes on Bravo, who were surrounded by the group of Afghan forces and the other 15 American trainers. They were being shot at from all directions. Suddenly he noticed other members from the village and the rest of the American trainers who were all awoken by the sound of the firefight heading into the woods to help.

The team and their group were outnumbered and although they were making decent progress in taking out the Taliban, they were still pinned down with nowhere to go.

The Afghan forces surrounded Jason, Sonny, Brock and Trent, as well as their American trainers. They knew their survival was a key part in taking out this group and felt they had to protect them. Although Jason wasn't a fan of it, he understood why it was being done.

The entire team was deadly with their weapons, which didn't go unnoticed by anyone, both friendly and the enemy. Every time they aimed their guns they connected with their targets. No one missed. Fortunately for them the Taliban couldn't quite get to them yet. They had to get through the group surrounding them in order to get to the ones they really wanted.

Back at the village Clay and Ray were watching their brothers taking on heavy fire while watching multiple Afghans and Americans drop to the ground wounded or killed.

Clay and Ray both looked at each other and knew they needed to get into that fight to help their brothers. "We can't just sit here and watch. We need to get out there now!" Clay said to Ray.

Ray radioed in to Blackburn to inform him they were heading in to help. They started to move from their location when they were surprisingly told they were not to leave that rooftop under any circumstance.

"What!?" Clay said looking at Ray. "I know Blackburn did not just tell us we had to stay here."

"TOC. With all due respect, we're useless here. They're practically sitting ducks out there. Let us go in and help." Ray replied back to Blackburn.

"No can do Bravo two." Blackburn hesitantly replied. If it were his call they wouldn't even have had to ask but the higher ups were involved on this mission and they didn't want to have any more casualties than necessary. He also explained that worst case scenario they would be the last line of defense before the Taliban would overtake the village.

The replies from Blackburn didn't sit right with Clay or Ray. They continued to ask for permission to go in three more times. All three times they were denied. Blackburn looked over at Mandy. Both knew there was no way in hell Clay and Ray were staying on that roof but he had no choice but to play along to satisfy the higher ups.

Both Clay and Ray were getting fed up with being told to stay put. They both knew it wasn't Blackburn's call and that he was just the middle man but that didn't help the situation any. "Those are our brothers! Our family! I don't care what anyone says. I'm not gonna watch them all die from this roof. I'm going in. Clay said to Ray, knowing Ray was 100% joining him.

"Dude, it's like you read my mind" Ray replied as the both headed down the stairs of the home.

Back at command, both Blackburn and Ellis were trying to hide the smiles on their faces as they watched their guys leaving the roof.

"Where the hell do they think they're going?!" One of the higher ups screamed from across the room in Blackburns direction. "I thought I told you to tell them they were not to move from that roof!" The man was furious.

Blackburn just shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer. He had done as he was told and informed them to stay put multiple times knowing damn well it wasn't going to happen.

As Clay and Ray exited the house they located a nearby Humvee. Ray hopped into the drivers seat while Clay climbed into the turret where he was partially exposed and manned the gun. Neither one of them cared that they were defying orders and if they were both being honest, neither one of them really expected to make it out of their alive to see what their punishment would be. If their brothers were going to go down, they were going down with them. And with that thought Ray drove off into the woods towards their team and Clay started taking out as many people as he could.


	2. Chapter 2

They got about halfway to their team when they came across a group of injured Americans and Afghan forces and as much as they wanted to keep going and get to Bravo as quick as they could, they couldn't leave these guys there to die. "Stop Stop Stop." Clay shouted down to Ray who immediately stepped on the breaks. As soon as the truck came to a halt, Clay jumped out, exposing himself to enemy fire and started helping people into the vehicle while Ray used it as a barrier to protect them the best he could.

"Hurry up man. We gotta get moving." Ray rushed as Clay loaded up the last injured member of this group and climbed back up into the turret. They then had to race back to village to unload the injured men in order to make room for anyone else.

They went back in three more times, rescuing as many people as they could and collecting their weapons before they finally got a glimpse of a Bravo team uniform. "There they are!" Ray yelled up to Clay who had spotted the team at the same time.

"Get in there now!" Clay yelled as he noticed Brock and Sonny were down. He knew they had to be hurt but he had no idea of the level of seriousness.

Ray drove the Humvee straight into the main line of fire and wedged it between Bravo and the Taliban, using the giant vehicle as a shield.

"God am I glad to see you guys!" Jason yelled over the gunfire. Clay continued shooting, providing cover, while Jason and Trent helped Brock and Sonny into the Humvee and then grabbed the nearby wounded forces and piled them into the vehicle before they themselves jumped in. Once everyone was in safely, Ray sped off to the village.

"TOC. Bravo One. We're arriving back at the village and requesting a medevac. Bravo three and five are down. Heading back in to retrieve more injured" Jason radioed in to Blackburn as they pulled into a secure area of the village and started unloading the injured.

"Bravo one. TOC. Hang tight. Air and ground support are in route. Multiple medevacs also heading your way for three and five and the others." Blackburn replied.

Jason, Trent and Ray were helping Brock and Sonny out of the Humvee, unaware of how long it was taking Clay to climb down from the turret.

"Quit fussin' over me! I'll be fine!" Sonny protested as he winced while trying to pull his arm away. "Take care of the kid first!" He was watching how slow and clumsily Clay was descending from the turret and knew something wasn't right.

The rest of the team instantly turned around to put eyes on Clay just as his foot missed the last rung of the ladder causing him lose his balance and fall to the ground.

"Did he get hit?!" Jason asked, looking over at Ray as they both ran towards Clay, who was now laying on the ground and barely attempting to get up.

"He never said anything about getting hit! I saw blood on him a couple times but figured it was from the wounded he was helping. He was moving fine." Ray replied, feeling a bit guilty.

Once they got to Clay they noticed three bullet holes. One in his left shoulder, one in his abdomen right below where his vest ended and one in his right thigh. His vest was also littered with bullets, both front and back. His skin was pale and he was breathing rapidly. "Trent get over here now!" Jason ordered. He knew he was tending to Brock, but his injuries, although painful, were not life-threatening.

"Spenser, talk to me man. Tell me what's going on!" Trent asked while trying to slow the bleeding. "Jason put pressure on his leg. We gotta try to control the bleeding." He ordered Jason and then he gave Clay a quick shot of morphine, knowing it would barely touch his pain but it would help a little until the medics could arrive.

"I.. I can't.. I can't.." Clay breathed out, barely hanging on to consciousness, before he went into a painful coughing fit.

"God dammit! Where the hell are those medevacs!?" Trent yelled as he noticed the speckles of blood that were coughed up on Clay's lips.

Jason was just about to radio Blackburn when they all heard the medevacs approaching. As soon as they landed a handful of the medics ran over to where Bravo team was posted while other medics tending to the other that were injured.

"What do we got?" One of the medics asked Ray, who had ran towards them and met them half way.

"We have three injured, one of them is in pretty bad shape. He's over there." Ray said pointing to where Clay was. "The other two aren't quite as bad. They're over there." He continued pointing to where Bock and Sonny were, which wasn't all that far from Clay.

As the medics approached Clay, Trent started updating them on the situation. "Three penetrating gunshot wounds, one in the shoulder, one in the stomach and one in the thigh. The one in the thigh is the only one with an exit wound. Took multiple shots in the vest. He lost a lot of blood. He's pale and struggling to breathe and he just started coughing up blood." The medics then quickly got to work.

"Just patch it up and let me get back to my team." Sonny was getting frustrated. He was close enough to Clay to be able to hear everything the medics were saying and he wanted to be there for the kid, not being fussed over.

"Sonny!" Jason said sternly. "Quit giving them a hard time and let them do their job."

Sonny was about to argue but based on the look on Jason's face he decided that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

Brock looked over at Sonny and could see the concern written all over his face. He put on a good front but he couldn't trick his team. "Hey. He'll be ok. Let the medics take care of you and Ahhhh." He was saying when one of the medics put a little too much pressure on one of bullet wounds.

"You good?" Sonny asked Brock, who was now recomposing himself.

"I'm fine. Just ready to get out of here." Brock said.

At this point the medics had taken off Clays vest, cut his shirt off and had an oxygen mask on his face. As the medics rolled him on his side to get him on the backboard, Brock and Sonny got their first look at how bruised Clay was. The rest of the team noticed as soon as his shirt was cut off. With the amount of bullets he took the vest it was something they all expected, but it didn't make it any easier to see.

The medics brought over two more backboards, one for Brock and one for Sonny. Brock smirked a little when he saw them approaching. He knew there was no way in hell Sonny was getting on that thing and sure enough he put up a fight.

"Get that fucking thing away from me." Sonny said as he attempted to stand up. He had broken his ankle pretty badly when he slipped on a rock while running over to Brock after he got hit. The medics, who were growing tired of fighting Sonny, obliged and helped him to the helicopter. Once Sonny was in the helicopter, Brock was loaded up. Ray hopped in behind them and informed the two that Jason, Clay and Trent were taking a separate helicopter. They didn't like the idea but understood that space was limited and there was no way all six of them would fit on one with all the medics. Once everyone was loaded in the two helicopters, they took off and headed straight to the base hospital.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the helicopters landed Clay was quickly rushed towards the base hospital, with Brock and Sonny not far behind. As the rest of the team hopped off the helicopters and began walking to the hospital waiting room they heard Blackburn calling them for a quick debrief.

"Can't it wait?" Ray growled loud enough for only Jason and Trent to hear. He knew that the debrief would be quick but he wanted to be at the hospital in case there was any sort of news on his injured brothers. "Let's just get this over with." He said heading towards Blackburn.

As soon as the debrief was over everyone heading to the hospital.

"Any updates on the three that were just brought in?" Jason asked the nurse sitting at the front desk of the waiting room.

"The SEALs?" The nurse asked, wanting to make sure she relayed the correct information.

"Yea. The SEALs. How are they?" Jason wanted answers.

The nurse pulled out a clip board and flipped to the page containing the information Jason wanted. "Sonny Quinn has a through and through gunshot wound to his upper arm and some pretty bad bruising to the chest and back. He's upstairs now getting x-rays on his ankle. Brock Reynolds was taken up to surgery. He was shot in the shoulder, thigh and a few in the vest. The surgeons are going in to remove the bullet from his shoulder and to stich up his thigh. Doctors said he got lucky. The bullet just barely missed his femoral artery. Clay Spenser is also up in surgery to remove the three bullet he was shot with. He had lost a lot of blood before making it here and his body was in shock upon arrival.

"But they're all gonna be fine though right!?" Jason asked nervously.

"Once I know more about their conditions I'll let you know, but for now I think you should all go relax while you wait. There's a private room right over there." The nurse pointed to a decent sized room with multiple chairs and couches. "Don't think I didn't notice the way you all entered through those doors. Pretty obvious you all took some shots to your vests. I'll send a nurse in to get you guys cleaned up and check you over, make sure you guys aren't hiding injuries.

"Thanks but that won't be necessary. We're fine. We've all taken shots to the vest before. A little bruising and sore for a few days then good as new." Jason smiled at her.

"The nurse will be the judge of that. You guys are all the same." She smiled back and rolled her eyes before walking away.

Jason, Ray, Trent, Blackburn, Ellis and Davis all entered the waiting room. About a half hour later a nurse walked in to evaluate the three members of Bravo.

"Let them." Blackburn ordered, anticipating all three of them to put up a fight. Jason, Ray and Trent just looked over at him, backed down from the arguments they were all forming in their heads and let the nurse do her job.

As the nurse finished her exam, cleaned and stitched up a few cuts on each of them, she looked over at Blackburn. "You seem to be one they listen to. They all have some pretty deep bruising that will cause them all to be pretty sore but I believe that's the worst of it. I'd say a mandatory week off to relax then they can ease back into the swing of things." She then looked at the three men she had evaluated. "I'm serious. One week. No working out, no running, no strenuous activities. Just take it easy." They all shook their heads in agreement without saying a word. They all knew they would pretty much be in the hospital 24/7 until the entire team was released. They weren't going to leave someone there alone.

"Here are some minor pain pills. You're all still a bit jacked up on adrenaline but I assure you that as soon as it wears off you're going to be feeling it." She handed them each a bottle that had instructions on when to take them and how much to take. "Any questions?" She asked.

"Any updates on the others?" Trent asked pretty much before she even finished her sentence.

"Sonny Quinn has a pretty badly broken ankle. The doctor is putting a hard cast on it now in hopes that it won't need surgery. He'll need another x-ray in about two weeks to make sure it's healing properly. As far as the other two, all I know is that they are still in surgery."

"Thank you, Nurse." Blackburn said right before she left the room.

The group remained mostly silent as their spirits were low. Jason was silently keeping an eye on Ray who had slightly separated himself from the pack. As soon as Jason was about to get up and make his way over to Ray, a pretty, young nurse brought Sonny in in a wheel chair.

"Nice wheels you got there." Davis joked trying to lighten the mood. "Surprised you didn't fight them on pushing you in a wheel chair.

"Now what kind of gentleman would I be telling her no?" Sonny winked then looked up at the nurse. The nurse just smiled and then left the room.

"So. How are they?" Sonny asked, not knowing the conditions of Brock or Clay.

Blackburn began filling Sonny in and as he was Jason watched Ray slumping deeper and deeper in his chair. Jason slowly got up and walked over to Ray, not drawing any attention to the two.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Jason asked, already having an idea of what he was thinking.

"I should have known Jason. I should have known he was hit. There was no way in hell he didn't get shot with the amount of pullets that sprayed the ground around him. If we would have just switched off driving he might not be in such bad shape." Ray answered.

"Don't do that to yourself Ray. This isn't your fault. You weren't the one aiming the gun. Knowing Clay, he wouldn't have switched. He would have told you he was fine and continued on like he was doing and you know it." Jason said trying to ease his mind.

Ray looked up at Jason. He knew he was right. Hell, if the roles were reversed and Clay was driving, he would have done the same exact thing and not said a word.

Ray's talk with Jason had slightly put his mind at ease, but it wasn't going to get there fully until he knew the kid was going to be just fine and so with that, they all continued sitting there, waiting for news on both Brock and Clay.


	4. Chapter 4

It was just over an hour later when a doctor entered the room to give everyone an update.

"I have some good news. Mr. Reynold's surgery went very smooth. Doctors are stitching him up as we speak and then he will be moved into a recovery room. As soon as he is moved into his room you guys will be able to go in and visit." The doctor said.

"Thank God." Blackburn said as everyone was now able to breathe a little easier knowing Brock was going to be ok.

"What about Clay? Any update on him?" Ray asked.

"His surgery is a little more complicated but so far it's going well. They…" The doctor started to say before being cut off

"So far? What's that supposed to mean? Are complications expected? Give it to us straight doc." Jason interrupted.

The doctor just eyed him, slightly annoyed. "As I was saying, the bullets in his shoulder and leg have been removed and the areas repaired. They are currently trying to remove the third one from his abdomen. Due to the location it's a little trickier. There is a lot of bleeding that needs cleaned up and they are trying to find where all the bleeding is coming from so that they can safely remove the bullet without nicking anything. As soon as I hear more I'll let you all know."

As soon as Brock was moved to his room, the team left the waiting room and enter Brocks room. He was still tired and a bit out of it. The doctors had told them he would be like that for a day or two due to the pain meds and that there was no need to worry.

Almost two hours after Brock came out of surgery a different doctor walked into Brocks room with an update on Clay. "The surgeons managed to successfully remove all three bullets and get the bleeding under control. The gunshot wound to his abdomen did cause quite a bit of internal bleeding but they were able to find the sources of the bleeding and stitch it up. Due to the amount of blood loss the doctors have started a blood transfusion to help replace the lost blood. We will also be putting him on some heavy painkillers for the first few days so he'll most likely be mostly out of it until we begin to lessen the dosages."

"Is he going to be ok?" Ray asked.

"He'll be in a lot of pain for a few weeks but we fully expect him to make a full recovery with no lasting effects." The doctor replied.

"When can we see him?" Jason asked.

"They're moving him into a room now so as soon as they get him settled I'll come back to get you so you can visit." The doctor informed them before leaving the room.

When the doctor returned only Jason, Ray and David stood up. The team decided they would be the only three to go at first so that Brock wouldn't be alone in case he started coming around.

As they approached Clays room and walked in they were a bit surprised but what they were looking at. Clay was laying there sound asleep. The doctors had put him in only baggy fitting shorts to make it easier to change the bandages so that he hopefully wouldn't develop any infections. The blanket was pulled up only to his waist leaving his entire upper body exposed. It was only then that they realized the true extent of his injuries. Most of his entire chest and upper stomach was bruised and covered in welts, making it very easy to identify where the vest stopped the bullets from fully penetrating his skin. It made Jason put a hand up to his chest. He knew the kind of pain he was going to be in when he woke up. The same kind of soreness that the rest of them were trying hard to hide.

Davis had counted eight welts, not including the ones on his back or the three that had actually penetrated his skin. Clay's right thigh was covered by the blanket but the doctors had it propped up on a couple of pillows to elevate it and through the blanket you could tell it was heavily wrapped. There was also a vertical long white bandage taped to his stomach, slightly to the right of his belly button, covering the incision sight from where the surgeons cut him open to clean up the internal bleeding and remove the bullet. They also had his left shoulder bandaged heavily securing his arm close to his body and hiding the third incision sight.

They walked closer to the bed as the doctor began explaining things to them. As they reached the sides of the bed they noticed Clay's eyes were held tightly shut, his forehead wrinkled and jaw clenched. His breathing was also rapid and short.

"I thought he was heavily drugged. Why does he look like he's in pain?" Jason asked slightly annoyed. Clay doesn't deserve to feel this pain.

"The drugs are probably just wearing off. There's a button he can push that'll administer more whenever he needs it."

"This button over hear?" Jason asked pointing to a PCA pump that was just out of Clays reach. "The one he can only reach if he moves, which I guarantee you he doesn't want to do cause of how much pain it'll cause. Does he even know it's there?"

Through Clay's foggy find he could hear Jason getting upset with the nurse. He attempted to hide his pain and open his eyes, turning his head towards where the voices were coming from.

"Easy kid, you're gonna be just fine. Just relax ok?" Jason told him, knowing the amount of pain he was in.

Clay managed to open his eyes just long enough to acknowledge Jason, Ray, Lisa and the doctor in the room before a wave of pain took him over, forcing his eyes to shut hard and the look of pain to return to his face.

Jason glared over at the nurse and then picked up the PCA pump, pushed the button the release the pain meds then put it on Clay's right hand. "Just push that button whenever you need more kid. It's the strongest stuff they can give you."

Clay slowly shook his head in understandment before the meds kicked in and forced him back to sleep.

"How long you think he will be like this?" Jason asked the doctor.

"Hopefully not too long. Maybe three days. It really all depends on his pain tolerance." The doctor replied.

Jason, Ray and Lisa all knew he had an abnormally high pain tolerance so they were confident it would be closer to two days.

They hung out in his room for a few hours before Blackburn entered to check on them. They knew the rest of the team was eager to see Clay. Blackburn remained in the room while the other three left to head back to Brocks room so that Trent and Sonny could go see Clay.

Once Trent and Sonny entered the room they had the same reaction as everyone else. They sat down next to Blackburn and all three of them kept their eyes on the kid, making sure he was ok.


	5. Chapter 5

A few days later things were starting to look up. Everyone was beginning to move a lot easier as their bruising had started to go away, Brock had been released from the hospital and Clay was beginning to stay awake longer and longer as he didn't require quite as much pain meds.

The first thing Brock did once he was released was to visit Clay. He hated not being able to be there for him during the first few days while he was at his worst but he was going to be there now. He was still unable to put weight on his leg so he was given a wheelchair until his shoulder and thigh heeled enough to bare weight. Trent was given the honors of being his 'chauffer' and pushing him in the wheelchair.

As Trent pushed Brock up to Clay's room, Brock was a bit surprised to see Clay so aware of everything. He had heard about the kind of shape he was in and still expected him to be doped up on enough meds that he'd still be out cold, but nope, the kid looked like he was doing great.

"Hey guys." Clay said to Brock and Trent as they entered the room.

"Hey. How ya feeling?" Brock smiled, glad to see he was doing well.

"Ehh, a little sore but nothing I can't handle. I think the worst part is just being stuck in this bed. I'm ready to get out of here." Clay replied.

"Soon enough, pretty boy." Sonny chimed in. They were all eager to get back home but there was no way in hell any of them were going unless they were all on that plane together and they didn't want to rush it and risk any type of setback.

The entire team sat around for a few hours and bullshitted when they noticed Clay was starting to get tired.

"We keeping you up over there?" Davis asked and she saw Clay fighting sleep.

"Nah. You guys are good." Clay said, trying, and failing, to convince even himself that it was true. Everyone picked up on it.

"We'll let you get some rest. I think it's about time these guys get some too." Blackburn said as he stood up. The rest of the team stood up as well and followed suit.

One by one they just about all said their goodbyes and walked out the door heading towards their beds. Ray was the only one who stayed behind. He had been waiting for a chance to talk to Clay alone and this seemed like the perfect time.

"Hey listen. I know you're tired so I promise to make this quick." Ray started.

"Sure. What's on your mind?" Clay asked him.

"Why didn't you say anything? You know you could have told me. I would have switched places with you in a heartbeat, let you drive." Ray asked him.

"I didn't even realize I was hit until I was hitting the ground. I had felt one or two hit me in the vest but after that I didn't feel a thing. I was just so focused on getting everyone out and getting to the rest of our guys." Clay said as he watched Ray struggle to find the words to reply.

"You're not blaming yourself for this are you?" Clay asked, almost as if he could read Ray's mind.

"I just… I don't know. I feel like I should have at least offered to switch with you or something. Maybe if I had we'd all be getting ready to head home by now?"

"Ray. None of this is even close to being your fault. You want me to be really honest with you?" Clay asked as Ray looked at up him and made direct eye contact. I didn't have any intentions of getting out of there alive. And if I'm being really really honest… I didn't think any of us were going to make it, but it wasn't going to stop me from doing everything I possibly could to save as many people as possible. That's what you do for your brothers." He paused for a minute waiting to see if Ray would say something. When no reply came, he continued. "Look man, it's done and over. We all somehow managed to make it out of there alive. Let's leave the past in the past. Yea?"

Ray shook his head still searching for words. "I know. You're right. I just needed to apologize and get it all off my chest. Let you know I'm sorry for not noticing you were hit or for offering to switch posit…."

Clay cut Ray off mid-sentence. "Hey! No apologies necessary dude. I mean it."

Ray once again shook his head up and down. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Knowing that Clay held no blame towards him was exactly what he needed to hear. "Thanks man, now get some rest. Mandy said there's a good chance we can fly home in a couple of days as long as you don't have any sort of setbacks."

"Not going to fight you on that one." Clay said.

"You want some company tonight? That chair is mighty comfy and getting Sonny's ass out of it was next to impossible." They both laughed.

"Yea. That would be nice.. I'd actually appreciate not spending the night alone." Clay smiled. He was confident he had gotten through to Ray and he knew Ray felt almost obligated to stay with him but he wasn't entirely lying. He enjoyed having the entire team in the room with him, even if he was mostly out of it for a majority of the time. It reminded him how grateful he was that everyone survived, even if they were banged up. "Thanks." Clay mumbled as they both began to drift off.

Ray smiled and mumbled back "that's what brothers are for."

 **END**


End file.
